Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology

The Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology (CICG) led by Justin Simon is based in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Directorate (ARES) at
NASA Johnson Space Center. Our team measures a wide variety of elements and their isotopes to understand the origin of our Solar System, the processes that
transformed nebular dust and gas into the building blocks of planets, and planet formation (accretion & differentiation). Investigations include the measurement
of: (1) Short- and long-lived radionuclides for chronology studies, (2) Fractionation of middle mass stable isotopes to study the formation mechanisms of these
planetary materials, and (3) Isotopic analyses that utilize the traditional ways that isotopic compositions can be used to study interaction among different
reservoirs within the protoplanetary disk and terrestrial planets. We strive to integrate all of these isotopic measurements into a petrological context.

Tomohiro Usui - former postdoctoral researcher, now Assistant Professor at Tokyo Tech
Ryan Mills - former postdoctoral researcher, now at the University of North Carolina
Tim Peters - former postdoctoral researcher, now at the Lunar Planetary Institute

Summer Interns

2012 Peter Christoffersen, starting graduate school at University of Western Ontario
2013 Poorna Srinivasan, now a graduate student at University of New Mexico
2014 Alastair Tait, now a graduate student at Monash University
2014 Kent Fisher (NASA Co-op), now a graduate student at University of Houston
2015 Kaitlyn McCain, starting graduate school at University California, Los Angeles